Year of the Spark: April 8
by Sparky Army
Summary: Now he was wondering if he should have been there to comfort her more.


_We, the Sparky Army, decree 2008 to be the Year of the Spark. We pledge to post a new sparky story or chapter of a sparky story every day from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. Though the Powers that Be have removed Elizabeth Weir from the regular cast of Stargate Atlantis, we feel that she remains an integral part of the show, and that the relationship between her and John Sheppard is too obvious to be ignored. We hope that you, and anyone might happen to read these works, agree. _

_And if that isn't official enough for you, we don't know what is. Seriously, guys, we're just trying to have some --and show TPTB that Sparky is the way to go. So sit back and enjoy the 366 stories coming your way!_

**AN(sparkly): **So this is based on The Return. I'm not really sure on the ending, but I kinda wanted to add a short history of what the Replicators have done. So, enjoy!

SPOILERS for The Return, Hot Zone (which I hope you've all seen by now), The Real World, and slight foreshadowing for Lifeline.

**John and Elizabeth's Return**

**By: sparklyshimmer2010**

THE DINNER

John had been worried about Elizabeth. She hadn't been willing to talk to any of them. He knew it must be difficult for her, that she was trying to get over it. But it had hurt that she didn't answer his calls.

So he was glad to see she had come to dinner with himself, Rodney, and Carson. And she was enjoying herself too. Laughing and teasing Carson. Almost all traces of sadness lining her face were gone. She had her friends.

Elizabeth looked good with her dark hair partially up, and the nice shirt. Red as usual, but she wouldn't be Elizabeth without the color.

John was glad to hear that she was actually sleeping too.

She was about to leave and he was contemplating leaving with her when all the phones started off.

DISTRACT ME

Carson and John were waiting in John's office at the SGC when Rodney and Elizabeth walked in.

"We are now authorized to get to the jumper." Rodney said triumphantly.

"How'd ye do it?" asked Carson curiously.

John noticed Elizabeth slightly flush.

"Oh it was nothing." She stated evasively, hoping they would let it go.

Of course with these men, that was _not_ going to happen.

"It was a simple matter of distracting Dr. Lee." Rodney said, seemingly to want to encourage John and Carson.

"And how'd ye do that?" Carson questioned.

Rodney smirked and Elizabeth knew she was done."Why don't you ask Elizabeth? I give her ALL the credit." And he made a dramatic arm sweep in her direction.

"Oh?"

"Elizabeth?" John prompted. Oh she was embarrassed now. She sent a glare at Rodney before holding her head high and answering.

"We…talked about World of Warcraft."

Rodney snorted. "Oh please. There was more than just talking."

John and Carson grinned at Elizabeth with the implications.

"So are you gonna tell us about it or are you gonna let Rodney tell us?" John threatened. She groaned.

"I am never gonna live this down am I?"

"Not likely, no." Rodney answered and the other two men laughed happily.

She sighed. "Well talking about World of Warcraft wasn't working so well, so… I used some of my womanly charms."

"Some of your womanly charms, you say?" Carson prompted, highly amused.

"It worked?" John asked

Rodney snorted again. "Oh yeah it worked. The guy was hooked. Kinda pathetic actually, but Elizabeth did a great job if I do say so myself." Elizabeth swore their faces were going to break from too much smiling.

She eyed John. "Is that so surprising?" she asked, and though she sounded serious, her own smile hinted at her teasing. "You don't think I can charm a man?" She raised an eyebrow, sauntering forwards.

Somewhere in his head John heard Carson mutter, "Now I'm sorry I missed it." But he was too distracted by Elizabeth to fully register any words.

"Oh no no no!" he defended, "I didn't mean that you weren't charming. You're a lovely person. Uh…" He trailed off uncomfortably.

Elizabeth laughed and the others in the room not currently staring stupidly at her joined in. "It's fine, John. Actually it was kinda fun."

They shared a grin, seemingly oblivious to Carson and Rodney.

"Uh, shouldn't we be getting ready?" Rodney suddenly broke the moment.

John nodded and they headed out. First the scientist, then the medical doctor. As John followed Elizabeth through the door, he couldn't help but want to get back at her. He leaned forwards and whispered in her ear, "I hope sometime you find a reason to distract _me._"

Unfortunately it came out less jokingly than he meant. His voice was husky and it made him sound very serious, and she looked at him in surprise, but he just covered up with a killer smile and moved ahead.

BLACK

As they got their gear on John noticed Elizabeth shoot him an odd look. She'd been doing that for a bit now. He shouldn't have said what he had to her. He knew all too well it hadn't come out the way he intended it too. He'd always prided himself on the fact that he'd never given any obvious indication about him being attracted to her, and now he'd just blown that.

But other than the glances, they'd both ignored it. They would first have to go on this mission before anything was brought up between them. For now they were focused on saving Atlantis.

He was a little worried about her coming along. She had already been a part of the plan though, and she missed Atlantis as much as anybody. It was her home. She deserved to go on this rescue, there was no way he would deny her that. If he fought her he'd probably lose anyway. She had a way with words, which was only natural as she was a brilliant diplomat.

He just hoped she'd be OK. It was odd to see her with weapons, wearing the same outfit he was.

He had to admit though, she looked _good_ in black.

PLAN IN ACTION

"Will we not be vulnerable to the same nanovirus with which Niam infected Elizabeth?" Teyla asked.

At the mention of her experience Elizabeth's eyes shadowed. John watched her closely. She had tensed up.

"He's been floating in space for over a month now. Existing in such a harsh environment, direct solar radiation has severely diminished his power levels. We're fairly certain he's almost completely incapacitated." Carson said, and although he was a doctor, it struck him as odd to hear this from him.

At his words Elizabeth looked slightly relieved.

"Is he dead?" Ronon asked.

"As in 'mostly dead'. Besides, we don't have a choice. He's the key to our whole plan."

"Alright. But if he even twitches…" Elizabeth started.

Ronon clanked two ARGs together reassuringly and said, "Don't worry."

"Thank you!" she said.

She really was very nervous about this, John thought. It hurt him to surmise what those damn nanites must have done to her. He had never asked what exactly had taken place in her mind. Now he was wondering if he should have, should have been there to comfort her more.

A little later into the plan, still in the jumper, Elizabeth asked, "Why don't we do this from here?"

"Do what from here?" Rodney countered.

"Render the Replicators helpless, Rodney? Remember the plan?"

John silently questioned if maybe she was afraid to meet the Replicators again. Perhaps she was afraid to be so close to so many of them. Again he worried about what they had done to Elizabeth that day she collapsed. It must have really drained her, must have been emotionally hard.

"Of course I remember the plan. It's my plan."

Just because Rodney was so smart didn't mean he thought of everything. John felt the need to defend Elizabeth, no matter how small the issue was, so he said, "Uh, actually using Niam was Elizabeth's plan." He was rewarded with a smile and a thank you while Rodney muttered something.

For a bit he scrutinized her. She met his gaze evenly before blushing under the intensity. He could tell they were both now thinking back to his earlier words. Small sparks were cracking n the air. Things were different now and John couldn't help but think what would happen between them if they succeeded in saving Atlantis.

HOME

After she hugged Jack she came John's way with a smile. As with the dinner they had had not really so long ago, he liked seeing her happy again.

"He said we could stay." She told him softly.

"Yeah, kinda figured from the smile." He smiled back at her, but a bit sadly. She caught it.

"John?" she asked.

He bit his lip. "I-I care about you Elizabeth. A lot." He said simply.

She sighed and looked down. "John…"

"Please don't tell me you don't care, because I know you do."

She brought her head up and their green eyes met. She saw plenty of emotion as she searched his face, but there was no fear.

Finally she confessed. "I _do _care about you, John."

"I…I was thinking about it earlier…back on Earth I mean. I realized I wanted to have something between us. I figured with us all back, you no longer my boss, I thought it might be possible."

"But now we're back on Atlantis."

"Yeah." He sighed.

"Well we are _both_ back on Atlantis."

"Elizabeth? What are you saying?" His eyes lit up a bit in hope.

"Why don't… we try?"

His face lit up all the way and a hand reached out to squeeze hers in a silent answer. He then encircled his arm around her waist, pulling her in. When she realized he was going to kiss her, she pulled back slightly, putting one hand on his chest.

"John." She said, "Let's not push our luck just yet with Jack."

At the mention of the General his eyes wandered about, taking in the rest of their friends. Luckily Woolsey was already on the Daedalus. He stole a quick glance at the man who was looking purposefully oblivious to the interactions of Atlantis' two leaders.

"Right." John coughed. "Well then, follow me Dr. Weir?" he requested mischievously.

"Where to Colonel?" she asked, trademark eyebrow up.

He smirked. "Oh here and there…"

XXXX

DETERMINATION

"_If not the Wraith, then who made 'em?"_

"_I honestly don't know- but whoever they are let's just hope that they're not still around."_

"_Let's hope."_

And they met the Asurans almost two years later. They just barely stopped them from destroying Atlantis. They had, but not all of the Replicators had been gotten rid of. And they were still a major threat.

"_These Replicators, they are probably already at work building themselves another Atlantis."_

"_Now they know all about us."_

"_Well we beat them this time. Maybe we scared them off."_

"_Yeah maybe."_

Of course that didn't happen. The Replicators had tried – and succeeded – in overtaking Atlantis. Only because John defied orders and with his friends saved the city.

John really hated the Replicators. They were the ones responsible for creating that nanovirus that caused members of the expedition to die. It had caused a certain amount of tension between between him and Elizabeth. It had challenged their trust in each other.

They used their aggression and had reprogrammed Niam. Niam was the one responsible for putting Elizabeth through her ordeal. Responsible for John almost losing her.

Of course he didn't trust them, and he knew the Asurans weren't finished with the Lantians. But he had a horrible feeling that something really horrible might happen because of them. That 'something' scared him.

But whatever they tried he would always defend what he cared about. He would try his hardest to make sure they couldn't cause any more pain.

And at the moment he had his position back on his home and he had Elizabeth. He would make the best of it.


End file.
